Safety razor



Feb. 22, 1944. J MURos ET AL 2,342,160

SAFETY RAZOR Filed May 10, 1943 /J Af 1 l g 5 i 1:5 le l.; gli j %/22 12 1N VEN TORS Patented Feb. 22, 1944 SAFETY RAZOR Joseph Muros, Cambridge. and Nicholas Testi, Boston, Mass., asslgnors to Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Application May-1o. 194s, serial No. 486,290

(ci. ao-'zoi Claims.

This invention relates to safety razors of the type in which a thin exible blade is shaped and supported for shaving between blade-clamping members. The invention consists in improvements facilitating the presentation to the razor of fresh sharp blades while protected by an envelope which it is desired to remove only after the blade has been positively located in its shaving position.

The shaving edge of a thin safety razor blade is brought to such a high degree of neness that it is extremely delicate and its keenness is likely to be 'destroyed if the edge is accidentally drawn across any part of the razor or the .blade magazine or even the blade wrapper preparatory to shaving. Great care and considerable skill is required ordinarily on the part of the user to extract such a blade from its Wrapper and present it safely in its shaving position without damage to its edge. The present invention deals with blades of a type which may be protected at the time or place of manufacture by being enclosed in a paper wrapper. This wrapper overlaps and safeguards the sharp edge or edges of the razor blade and must be removed to make the edge accessible for shaving. We contemplate a safety razor so organized that the wrapped blade may be delivered directly thereto in its final shaving position and temporarily held as thus positioned while the user has only to strip the wrapper from the blade and withdraw it from the razor, all this being effected without danger and even without the possibility of touching the keen cutting edge of the blade.

To this end an improved feature of the invention consists in a safety razor having bladeclamping members equipped with blade-positioning means and a detent or retainer engageable temporarily with the blade as inserted and positioned to prevent withdrawal of the blade while the cover is stripped therefrom. As herein shown the detent is mounted in the razor headfor yielding movement and arranged to engage or interlock automatically with the blade when the latter reaches its shaving position and is properly positioned within range of the detent by the blade-locating means. The detent in no way interferes with the blade-clamping step and may be moved to an inoperative position at the conclusion of the shaving operation when it is deblade-holding detent movable into retaining ensagement with a blade presented between the blade-clamping members while the latter are separated and otherwise permit the free passage of the blade. The blade-holding detent may be operated to engage the blade either by the user or by spring means and in either case the detent is effective to retain the blade in its shaving position while the wrapper is stripped therefrom. e

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view of the razor head in longitudinal section and on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 2 is a corresponding view in cross-section v on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, but showing a blade in place;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the guard member of the razor with a wrapped bladein process of presentation thereto;

Fig. 4 is an end view of the razor head with portions of the handle shownasbroken away; and

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation partly in longitudinal section showing the detent retracted and sired to removethe used blade for cleaning or the blade in the process of withdrawal.

The invention is not limited to safety razors of any specific type but is of general application and is herein shown ln a razor of the Gil1ette" type in which the blade-clamping members are permanently connected, although arranged to bel lleprated for the reception or withdrawal of the 'I'he illustrated razor comprises a handle 1ncluding a hollow barrel I0 permanently connected to a tubular head II which is rotatably secured to the blade-supporting or guard member I2. This is generally rectangular in outline and provided at its opposite edges with slotted portions defining outwardly and downwardly curved guard bars I3. The body ofthe guard is also formed with a fiat, surface bounded by parallel fulcrum shoulders I4 over which the blade is flexed in use and with a central longitudinal slot I5 which is interrupted by a hub portion surrounding the upper end of the head I I and making permanent connection therewith. The guard I2 is apertured near one end to receive a cylindricall detent I6 mountedvupon a leaf spring Il which is riveted to the bottomof the guard and centrally cut-out so as to clear the head Il. In its normal position the spring Il lies against the bottom of the guard as shown in Fig. 1 and supports the detent bowed upwardly by the detent with a wedging aci in its inner position in which its upper bevelled surface extends slightly above the horizontal blade-supporting surface of the guard between its fulcrum shoulders I4. The upper surface of the detent I l is bevelled downwardly toward the right s so that it presentsA an inclined face to the advancing and of the blade as will presently appear. The cap member 2li corresponds in contour with the guard I2 and has an inner concave surface arranged to co-operate wtih fulcrum shoulders of the guard in imparting a transverse curvature to the blade when the latter is clamped in shaving position. The cap is provided with a longitudinal blade-locating rib 2l which fits with clearance in the slot I! of the guard and is interrupted so as to clear .themcentral hub portion of the guard abovethe upper end of the head Il The rib is also interrupted near one end to provide an open space for the det/ent I8. fIhe cap is provided with a centrally disposed shank 22 which is iiattened on both sides at its upper end as shown in Fig. 3 and received within the bore of the head Il. At its lower end it has a threaded connection with the head Il and is provided with stop screw 23 at its lower end which cooperates with the lower end surface of the head Il to limit the amount by which the cap and l guard may be separated. On the other hand,

when the handle is rotated with the head Il the cap is drawn down forcibly into clamping relation with the guard.

The blade herein shown as adapted for use with the razor above described is shown in Fig. 3, partially in dotted lines. It is a doubleedged blade notched in each corner to provide elongated unsharpened end portions and having a central longitudinal slot opening through its left-hand end. The slot opens into spaced diamond-shaped perforations or apertures 21 and v has a'central circular enlargement 28 which affords clearance for the shank 22 of the cap when the blade has been moved fully into its shaving position. As herein shown the blade is enclosed in a paper wrapper 26 which is folded so as to protect both of its cutting edges and to extend in double thickness substantially beyond the righthand end of the blade. The edges of the wrapper, however, do not extend inwardly far enough to cover the slot or apertures of the blade but leave them fully exposed. Blades thus protected may bedlspensed in a book form of multiple wrapper package, such as that disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,194,281, Gustafson.

Preparatory to shaving a wrapped blade 25 is pushed endwise between the cap and guard members of the safety razor while the latter are separated as shown in Fig. 1. The slotted blade moves forward smoothly upon both sides of the rib 2l of the cap while resting upon the flat supporting face of the guard I2. The blade slot not only aords clearance for the blade-locating rib 2| but also for the flattened shank 22 of the cap. The advancing end of the blade encounters the .bevelled end'face ofthe detent i6 and is itself tion as the end of the blade rides upon the inclined face of the detent. During this step of blade-bowing by the detent the two sides of the blade are supported by the edges of the cap so that the center of the advancing end portion of the blade is curved over the detent I8. The height of the cap is, of course, limited by the screw 23 so that the blade is maintained always within range of the detent, thatis. the blade cannot be inserted between the cap and guard as'ssiico members without "fi-rattling over the detent.

When the diamond-shaped aperture 21 of the blade registers with the detent the bladesnaps down into flat condition and the detent passes freely through the aperture 21. When this occurs the detent makes interlocking engagement with the blade. thus positively holding it against reverse longitudinal movement. The rear edges of the aperture 21-furnish rigid shoulders in the blade making positive engagement with the Arear wall of the detent It which, of bourse, is

wider than the blade slot.l With the blade thus held the user is free to remove the wrapper 2t by merely pulling it forcibly to the right. It is thus stripped from the blade while the latter remains positively and accurately positioned by the blade-locating rib 2| of the cap and detent Il. The handle is now rotated to draw the cap into blade-clamping position as shown in Fig. 4 and 20 in this operation the detent may or may not be temporarily depressed although it re-assumes its elevatedf position as soon as released by the cap.

. At the conclusion of the shaving operation the spring is curved downwardly to afford free access.

thereto. As soon as the upper end of the detent I6 has been withdrawn below the Plane of the blade and has disengaged the shoulder of the 35 aperture 21, the bladeis free to be withdrawn 0 beenA described as bowing lthe end of the blade when the latter is moved longitudinally into its shaving position. This is true so long as the spring l1 is stiffer in flexing than the blade, but equally good results are secured when the blade is stil! enough temporarily to depress the detent in bringing the aperture 21 into registration therewith.

Having thus disclosed our invention and described in detail one illustrative embodiment thereof we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent: A

1. A safety razor having co-operating bladeclamping members. blade-locating means, and spring actuated mechanism for engaging with a blade presented ledgewise between two bladeclamping members and holding it against withdrawal.

2. A safety razor having co-operating bladeclamping members one of which presents a plane blade-guiding surface, blade-locating means. and a spring detent normally projecting abovel said 1 blade guiding surface in position to interlock with a blade moved inwardly on said surface, and means for retractingY said detent.

3. A safety razor having co-operating bladeclamping members defining a longitudinal blade passage between them when they are separated', blade-locating means. and a detent movable into and out of saidv blade passage to retain or release a blade perforated to receive said detent.

4. A safety razor having co-operating blade-'- clamping members connected to permit limited separation to denne an intermediate blade passage between them. and a detent movable through one of said members to engage a perforated blade presented endwise between them.

5. A safety razor in combination with a slotted open-ended blade, the razorhaving co-operating blade-clamping members with a blade-locating rib between them interrupted to provide an open space near one end of the razor, and a blade-retaining detent mounted for movement into and out of said space, the blade being slotted to receive the rib of the razor and perforated to receive the said detent when moved into its shaving position in the razor. l

6. A safety razor for use with awrapped blade, comprising co -operating members relatively movable to engage and clamp a blade, blade-locating means between said members, and a holding derat-ion while the blade-clamping members are separated.

8. A safety razor having connected members relatively movable to clamp a flexible blade between them and when separated providing a lone gitudinal blade passage, a blade having shoulders ment with said shoulders when the blade has been moved longitudinally into a predetermined position between said blade-clamping members while they are separated.

.9. A safety razor having connected cap and guard members relatively movable to clamp a exible blade between them, blade-locating means, a detent mounted in one of said members and normally held in a projecting position to bow a blade presented endwise beneath the cap, and a exible blade provided with an aperture shaped to receive said detent when brought into registration therewith, whereby the blade may be inter-locked with the detent while in-at condition. Y

10. A safety razor having cap and guard members relatively Imovable to clamp a flexible slotted and apertured blade between them, a blade-locating rib on one of said members, a detent of greater width than the rib located between said members, movable in a limited path and co-operating with the blade aperture to lock the blade against endwise movement, a handle having threaded connection with the cap member and swivelly connected to said guard member where-y by the two members may be separated to receive between them a blade presented in at condition, and al stop screw for limiting the separation of said members and thereby maintaining the detent within range of the aperture of a blade bowed transversely between said members.

- Y JOSEPH MUROS.

NICHOLAS TESTI.

near one end,'and a detent movable into engage- 

